The Homesick Garden, Themes Essay, Research Paper

The Homesick Garden By, Kate Cruise O Brien

The Homesick Garden by Kate Cruise O Brien was a thoroughly gratifying read. It tells the narrative of the life of a teenage miss, Antonia, whose life is turned upside down by the unexpected gestation of her single aunt, Grace. The fresh explores many controversial issues, including, alcohol addiction and kid maltreatment. The narrative is told through the eyes of Antonia.

Isolation: The subject of isolation is vividly captured in this novel. Antonia is 15 old ages of age. She lives with merely her parents, as she is an lone kid. Antonia says she is surrounded by small pools of solitariness at place. Although Antonia said she rather likes it truly, I think that being an lone kid must be really lonely for her. This is particularly true since she has no friends of her ain age.

Having no friends doesn T seem to count to Antonia, except at lunch-time in school, which must be the worst for her. Antonia said that lunch-time was a friend clip, which is why she spent every lunch-time at the library on her ain. Antonia still enjoyed school. She found it soothing to see people I barely knew and didn T attention about. They were small people in Antonia s head, her household were the large people in her life.

Everyone needs a friend and because Antonia lacks adolescent friendly relationships, she turns to grownups. Antonia has merely one true friend, her aunt. Aunt Grace is my best friend and wise man. Antonia s grandma says she is excessively affectionate of Grace. Antonia understands grownups, and in a manner, she has to. She knows her parents really good, particularly her female parent. Antonia s female parent tells her everything ; this is what makes their relationship so strong. Mum is quick-witted until she decides non to be and Mum s silences are angry, noisy, clacking personal businesss. These quotation marks show how good Antonia knows her female parent, turn outing that her female parent is more than a parent to her, she is a close friend of whom Antonia relies on, sing she has no friends her ain age to tilt on.

Antonia makes a friend approaching the terminal of the novel, I think he made her feel much less cut off from her ain coevals.

The subject of solitariness and isolation is besides apparent with Grace in the novel ; she is an single mother-to-be and worst of all, she s unattached.Grace has cipher, so she locks herself off in her apa

rtment. Grace was non the kind of individual who wanted understanding. She hid herself off from everyone to screen of acquire the most of being on her ain before the babe came. Grace hoped that the babe would be like Antonia, a friend, instead than like everyone else, interlopers. Isolation is besides captured within Antonia s female parent in the lines I ve wanted to vanish all my life. If Grace has managed it so why should I halt her?

The writer, Kate Cruise O Brien, has dealt with the subject of isolation really skillfully during the class of this novel, chiefly through the usage of duologue.

Conflict: The 2nd distinguishable subject that the writer trades with is struggle. Much of the struggle in the novel is due to Antonia s female parent s imbibing job. Elizabeth is portrayed by the writer as an alky. Mentions to her in the novel frequently describe her as with a glass of brandy in manus. This alcohol addiction is the cause of much clash in her matrimony. This quotation mark sums up what I have been connoting at that place was a batch of door-slamming and speak about imbibing ( Mum s ) and indifference ( Dad s ) and when I passed Dendranthema grandifloruom on the steps she was shouting but I noticed she had a little glass in one manus and her coffin nails and igniter in the other.

The root of Elizabeth s intoxicant and coffin nail dependence comes from her childhood, when she was seven. Her neighbour sexually abused her. The effects of these actions were felt old ages afterwards, until so, she had tried to state herself that nil truly happened, but one time she told person about it, she felt a unusual kind of alleviation. Possibly if she had done that Oklahoman, she wouldn Ts need so much comfort. Mum needs a batch of comfort in one manner or another, what with the coffin nails and the brandy.

The writer shows struggle between Elizabeth and her hubby. Antonia s male parent is cognizant of Elizabeth s jobs, they frequently argue about it. Her hubby attempts to protect her. He ever offers Aunt Grace another glass of vino even if she s tipsy. If it s silent, he carefully corks the bottle and blazes. When she complains, she merely gets a you are my married woman and therefore my duty.

There is more struggle in the novel between Grandma and Elizabeth. Grandma bullied Dendranthema grandifloruom in a bad manner. Sometimes I d like to strangulate her said Elizabeth. There is besides struggle between Elizabeth and

Grace. Antonia thinks that sometimes Dad likes Grace more than Mum.